Skulsi Saturday 8 (plus a stationery geek-out)

A few random thoughts about this strip:
– Naomi and Charlie are waiting for London’s 6 Richmond bus
– I like the look of the drifting snow
– the reference to sprites in panel four makes me think of the art for the Magic: The Gathering card “Scryb Sprites” by Amy Weber (I think in part because “Scryb” and “ascribing” sound similar – though I also imagine the sprites in question would look pretty much exactly like Weber’s sprites)– the crosshatching in the background of this strip, and the other strips in One Two Three Four and No Slow Dancing, was executed with a dip pen (after those two mini-comics, I have tended to ink almost everything with a brush)

While I’m talking about tools, the majority of Skulsi Thatcher strips were inked with a Winsor & Newton Cotman #4 liner watercolour brush. I started using liner brushes because I found that the longer bristles (as opposed to those of standard round brushes) made it easier to keep ink out of the ferrule of the brush, resulting in less chance of the bristles splaying, thereby extending the life of the brush. At this point I prefer liners because I’m used to them. . . round brushes tend to feel short and stubby to me now. That said, I believe the most recent Skulsi strip (“My Death,” for the Never Was FCBD giveaway) was primarily inked with a #1 round – and I didn’t seem to notice a difference. I have started to prefer smaller brushes. The unfinished Skulsi strips that I created in a smaller format (see this post) were mainly inked with a #3 liner to make it easier to work in the reduced space. I think I’d probably opt for a #3 for most inking at this point, and I do like having a #1 handy.

I use a Speedball B6 nib for lettering, a ruling pen made by a Czechoslovakian company called Kin for the borders, and I seem to have a Hunt 513 EF nib hanging around for when I need a dip pen. I use two steel rulers: a 15″ with a cork back for inking borders, and a 16″ that belonging to my grandfather (marked with the name of the company he worked for, Ditto) for everything else.

My favourite pencil of ALL TIME is the Staedler Triplus Slim (HB), for which I would accept a product endorsement deal in a heartbeat. If they asked me. Which they won’t. For a while I thought this pencil had been discontinued. When I discovered it was still available, I bought 5 boxes of them (60 pencils). I am still working through those pencils.

I have been using Speedball Super Black india ink for years, but some of the early Skulsi strips were probably inked with Winsor & Newton, and some of the later strips in Sick Sense of Melody may have been inked with a strange, unnamed, but quite nice ink that EL gave me. It’s hard to tell; it’s all black ink.